Immunity

• The government of Mexico is suing U.S. gun-makers for their role in facilitating cross-border gun trafficking that has supercharged violent crime in Mexico.
• To understand why, let’s begin with some background about the federal law that protects the gun industry from civil lawsuits.

Gun industry immunity

• Importantly, there are limits to this immunity shield.
• Mexico’s lawsuit alleges that U.S. gun-makers aided and abetted illegal weapons sales to gun traffickers in violation of federal law.

Mexico’s allegations

• Mexico also points to industry marketing that promises buyers a tactical military experience for civilians.
• In short, Mexico claims that illegal gun trafficking isn’t just an unwanted byproduct of the industry’s design choices, marketing campaigns and distribution practices.
• Instead, according to the lawsuit, feeding demand for illegal weapons is central to the industry’s business model.

The next legal steps

• In January 2024, a federal appeals court in Massachusetts decided that Mexico’s allegations, if true, would deprive the gun-makers of immunity, and it sent the case back to trial court.
• Mexico now needs to produce evidence to prove its allegations that the industry is not only aware of but actively facilitates illegal gun trafficking.
• For their part, the gun-makers have asked the trial judge to put the case on hold while they pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

High stakes for the industry

• Even if the case were to settle for much less, a victory by Mexico would provide a template for a wave of future lawsuits that could change the way the gun industry operates.
• Similar theories about dangerous product designs, irresponsible marketing and reckless distribution practices in opioid litigation have transformed the pharmaceutical industry.

Timothy D. Lytton has provided expert consulting services to law firms representing gun violence victims.

• Others think concern over disinformation is just a moral panic or merely a symptom rather than the cause of our societal ills.
• Given that nearly 25% of elections are decided by a margin of under 3%, mis- and disinformation can have important influence.
• By contrast, among prior Obama voters who believed at least two fake headlines about Clinton, only 17% voted for her.
• There are more indirect consequences of disinformation too, such as eroding public trust and participation in elections.

The power of prebunking

• In contrast, “prebunking” is a new way to prevent false beliefs from forming in the first place.
• Such “inoculation” involves warning people not to fall for a false narrative or propaganda tactic, together with an explanation as to why.
• Misinforming rhetoric has clear markers, such as scapegoating or use of false dichotomies (there are many others), that people can learn to identify.
• Like a medical vaccine, the prebunk exposes the recipient to a “weakened dose” of the infectious agent (the disinformation) and refutes it in a way that confers protection.
• For example, we created an online game for the Department of Homeland Security to empower Americans to spot foreign influence techniques during the 2020 presidential election.

• Lee McIntyre advises the UK Government on how to fight disinformation.
• He also receives funding from Jigsaw (a technology incubator created by Google) and from UK Research and Innovation (through EU Horizon replacement funding grant number 10049415).

• Ready-to-drink Drink Tea and Coffee Market will reach US$ 172.28 Billion by 2030.
• The RTD tea and coffee market is shifting in quality to keep pace with increased interest in healthier ingredients and authentic experiences.
• Health advantages coupled with RTD tea and coffee consumption drive consumers' attention, particularly the aging population, further boosting consumer inclination towards RTD tea and coffee.
• Product Category segments the RTD Tea and Coffee Market into RTD Tea and RTD Coffee.

• The products will be available online immediately and rolled out to 1500 retail locations in March.
• GNC will carry four of FreshCap's beloved mushroom-based products, each formulated to promote health and longevity by increasing immunity, stress relief, cognitive function and more.
• The GNC-exclusive products include:
  Lion's Mane Capsules ($27.99, 60-count) – the "brain mushroom" used for cognition, focus, and mental clarity.
• Now the leading voice in mushroom education, FreshCap has a cult following on YouTube with 466K followers and regular programming including "The Mushroom Show."